When trying to startup my hp pavillion it goes to a blue hp logo screen and does nothing else. I try to go into setup but all it will do is say 'entering setup...' . i just installed a old hdd in it the cables and settings are correct. not sure exactly whats on the hdd. it worked in another pc before i installed it. its going to be a master (its the only hd in the machine). i try using the windows xp disk but it doesnt doot from the disk. any help would be appreaciated.
Thanx.

Was this computer working previously? Before this hardware change?

Are you familiar with clearing the CMOS from the motherboard?

Do you have a bootable BIOS disk?

What is the exact Pavilion model #?

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PS

Is this related to your last thread which you said was fixed?

http://www.d-a-l.com/help/showthread.php?t=26105


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yes,
yes,
no ,
no,
7920.

no a different one. they used to be two working ones and the previous owner pulled the hard disk from one and put it in the other one because it has a better processor and a graphics card.

If you cannot get past the HP logo nor enter the BIOS settup there has to be something going on that has nothing to do with the hard drive.
(Unless the original HP drive/ OS had a BIOS link.)*

I would try clearing the CMOS first.

There appears to be a BIOS upgrade but it also seems to be OS specific which is something that I have not run across before:
*(Suggesting perhaps a BIOS link to the original hard drive & OS).

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...&product=59615

Santa Fe Bios Update
HP Pavilion 7920 Desktop PC (US/CAN)

This BIOS update provides the minimum BIOS requirements to run Windows(r) XP on your HP Pavilion computer.
Also, the system will display the correct processor (CPU).

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...reitem=pv168en

Also perhaps this may help:

HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Recovering the System after the Hard Drive Is Replaced

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...cname=bph07119

i downloaded the bios update in the provided link, saved it to a disk and tried to start the pc but it still wont go into the setup menu. i extracted the files from the update to a disk, that didnt do anything either.

not sure if i made the boot disk right either.

Did you try just clearing the CMOS first?

As to the BIOS disk it is not as straight forward as I am used to as it is intended to upgrade an old OS | 98/ME which was this computer's original OS.

Basically you need to create a bootable floppy first.
In an XP machine insert the floppy & right click on A: under My Computer & choose Format & choose Create an MS-DOS Startup disk.

Or you can create boot disks here:

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

After that then place the extracted BIOS files on the same floppy.

Boot the floppy & use the commands such as:

Press Y at the prompt or type PFLASH2 at the a:\ prompt to proceed with the installation.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/g...en&lc=en&cc=us

how do you clear the cmos?